Hen&#39;s nest



M. T. SELS.

HENS NEST.

APPLICATION FILED MAYII, I92o.

L. 2 9 1 v0.. 11 P.. ou M m nu D;

MORRIS PETERS. INC I LIDIG,4 WASIIINGION D C M.- T. SELS.

HENS NEST. APPLICATION FILED MAY II. 1920.

Patented Mar. 15, 1921;.

PATENT OFFICE.

MARTINUS T. SELS, OF KNOXVILLE, IOWA.

HENS NEST.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 15, 1921.

Application iled May 11, 1920. Serial No. 380,658.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, MARTINUs T. SELs, a citizen of 'the United States, and a resident of Knoxville, in `the county of Marion and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Hens Nest, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to nest boxes for poultry and more particularly to an imrovement on my previous Letters Patent No. 1,149,544, dated April 10, 1915, and Letters Patent No. 1,167,786, dated January 11, 1916.

An object of my invention is to provide a hens nest of simple, durable and ineX- pensive construction, the parts being so arranged lthat the nest may be removed, whereby it may readily be cleaned.

Another object is to provide a nest, which comprises a nesting compartment and an egg receiving compartment, the parts being arranged so that the egg will travel from `the nesting compartment to the egg receiving compartment, where it will be absolutely safe against destruction by the hen.

Another object is to provide a nest device received within a casing, which is pan-Y shaped and provided with a soft Afabric or hemp material for forming a cushion member to prevent the egg from becoming broken, the nest device including a trough whereby the egg may be conveyed from the nest to the bottom of the casing without becoming broken.

With these and other objectsin view, my invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claim, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a transverse, section view taken on line 1-1 of Fig. 3, the cushion member being omitted from the nest.

Fig. 2 shows a vertical, central, sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 8.

Fig. 3 shows a front elevation of my device.

Fig. 4 shows a rear elevation of the same.

Fig. 5 shows a central, sectional view taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 2, showing the resilient fingers on the bottom of vthe lcasing for cushioning the egg against breaking when it drops from the nest device.

Fig. 6 shows a detail, sectional view of the method of holding the cushion device in the nest.

Fig. 7 shows a detailed, sectional view of the latch device when in inoperative position; and

Fig. 8 shows a detailed, sectional view taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. 2.

1n the accompanying drawings, 1 have used the reference character A to indicate an ordinary casing, which is preferably made of sheet metal.

The casing A comprises a forward wall 10 and rear walls 11 and 11a and the side walls 12 and 13.

The side walls l2 and 13 are each provided with langes`14. The forward wall 10 and the rear walls 11 and 11a are provided with the curved guide portions 15, which receive the flanges 14 of the side walls 12 and 13. f

The side walls 12 and 13 are provided at their lower ends with the guides 16 and at their upper ends with the guides 17. A bottom 18 is received in the guides 16 of the side walls 12 and 13, while the top 19 is received within the guides 17 of the side walls 12 and 13.

The bottom 18 is provided at its forward and rear edges with an up-turned flange 20. The top 19 is provided at its forward and rear edges with a down-turned flange 21.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the casing is formed, so that it may be taken apart readily without the use of any special tools or equipment, or it may be readily and quickly assembled by merely sliding the parts into proper position.

The forward wall 10 and the rear wall 11 of the casing are substantially half the height of the side walls.

Supported within the partition upon the forward wall 10 and therear wall 11 is the nest device B, which will be more fully described hereafter. v

The nest VB comprises a pan-shaped member 22, which is provided with an opening 23 in its bottom, substantially back of its center. The pan-shaped member 22 is provided at its forward and rear edges with the down-turned fianges 23 and 24. The portion between the down-turiied flanges 23 and 24 and the pan-shaped member 22 form Y The nest device rests upon the upper edges of the forward and rear walls, and is held against lateral movement by means ot the flanges 23 and 24 and against sideward movement by the side walls 12 and 13.

1n order to provide a cushion effect to the nest device B, 1 have provided the soft terial 25, lwhich may be of hemp or some other soft flexible material.

1t is essential that the nest device may be readily lcleaned and disinfected. 1n order to make they cushion member 25 readily removable from the nest, 1 have provided the wire 26 to which thesoft material `25 is sewed. The ends of the wire .i6 are bent at 27 into a substantially U-shaped portion.

l Stamped Vinwardly on the pan-shaped member 22 are the lugs28. The corners of thefpan-shaped member are beveled' at 29. 1n order to install the wire 26, which has fastened to it', the cushion member 25, the two ends of the bent portion 27 are placed against the beveled portions 29 and by springing the center of the wire 26 downwardly until it islower than the lower edge of Vthe lug 28, the wire 26 will then Vbe permitted tospring baclrito its original'position,'the center of the wire 26 resting below the 'lug 28T and the two'ends ofthe wire beingre .ceived between t-lie down-turned flange and the body portion of the member 22, substantially as shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings.

From the; foregoing description, it will be seen that the cushion member 25 for the nest device is practically made up lof four parts, which are interchangeable and may readily be removed from the nest for cleaning or installing a new one.

' lWhen it is desired to remove the entire nest device B from the casing, the back 11a is removed from the casing, then the nest device is raised upwardly until the flanges Y23 and 24are clear abokvethe upperv edges of the forward andirear.walls,then.thenest 'slightly upwardly towardfthe center, as is shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings,

When an::egg is laid,'the #hen moving around will cause the' egg to pass through the opening 23 and yontothe trough 30. The

i egg then rolls-olf of the trough 30 onto the resilientV fingers 34, the4 resilient ingers'for'm'- ing-a cushion effect when the egg is dropped off of the end of the trough 30 and prevents it from becoming broken. Y

As soon as the egg is received into'the por- Y tion of the casing below the nest, which may vbe called an egg receiving compartment, it is then safe against destruction by the hen, the trough 30 preventing the hen from placing her head through the opening 23 and coming inV Contact with the egg.

The resilient lingers, which arecurved upwardly toward vtheircenter, cause the egg to roll to one side of the bottom 18, so that when the next egg passes-down the trough 30, it vwill strilre they lingers 34 and then roll over to side,.without directly striking the is, .whichv are alreadyavithin'the `egg receiving compartment. Yin order to gatherV the eggsfrom within the receiving compartmenafl have provided a door 35,'which has its upper edge bent at 36. Theforward wall of the'casing provided'with a slot 37, whichis slightly longer than the vopening within the wall 10.v

.The curved portion 36 of the door 3o is,

partially received within the slot 3*', thus forminga hinge, whereby the door may be swung to open position. Y f Y The lower edge' ofthe door is provided with a forwardly extendingflange 38 and a rearwardly exrendingflange 39.4 The' fory wardly Yentend flange 38 forms a handle, whereby the door 35 maybe grasped. The flange 39 is receivedbaclrof the llange 20, which is formed on *thel bottom'18, .thus forming a lool; aga ing of the door 35.

1n order to openl the door 35, is lerasped and `the doormeinber Visimovod tly upwardly. smency in the forward wall 10, so thatthfe portion above'the slot 3"? will give enough, so

that the door first be raised directly upV wardlyuntil the Vflange 39 disengages from.

the rip-turned flange 26.#rsA soon the flanges disengage, then the'door 35 may be si Yung to forward side of the door. 35whicli acts as a stop device'when the door is moved to open position, the portion 40 rcstiugagainst the wall 10. I

A closure il a platform or rest, whereby the hen may cuter the nest* Y lv have provided Vvsuitable meansfor operating the. closure member 40a for causing it to be moved to closed position, when I desire to trap vthe lien within thenest.

Y in order 'to' operate the closure member 40, l use the following means:

The closure member'40@L is hinged to the side walls 12 and 13 by meansof the screws 41. The lower edge. ofthe closure member 401isgprovided with a vdownwardly extendstrthe accidental open? the flange 3SV the position shown inIdotted:linesV sr .niped portion 40 is 'formed on the i is provided, which serves as- "here is enough re-V ing flange 42, which rests against the flange 23 of the nest, when the closure member is in its open position. Iivoted to the side wall 12 is the lever 43, which is pivoted at 44. rIhe lever 43 extends out beyond the edge of the side wall and is provided with the flange 45, which rests below the closure member a and acts as a support for holding it in position.

rlhe inner end of the lever 43 is provided with an opening 46, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1 of the drawings, to which is secured the coil spring 47. The free end of the coil spring 47 is fixed to the side wall 12 at 48.

It will be seen that the spring will tend to draw the lever 43 to Jthe position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1 of the drawings, and in order to lock the lever in the position shown in solid lines in the drawings, I have provided the latch device 49, which is formed preferably of a wire, which is provided with the curved portions 50 and 51.

The upper end of the latch device 49 is eX- tended through the top 19 at 52 et the casing.

The lever 43 is provided with an opening 53. rI`he side wall 12 is provided with a corresponding opening. The opening 53 and the opening in the side wall 12 register with each other when the lever is in the position shown in solid lines in Fig. 1 of the drawings.

The curved portion 50 of the latch device 49 is extended through the registering openings, whereby the lever will be held against the movement caused by the spring 47. The latch device is provided with awire 54, which extends substantially toward the center of the nest device.

When the hen enters the nest, it strikes the wire 54 and tends to move it until the curved portion 50 passes out of the registering openings. The action of the spring 47 will then cause the closure member 40a to move to closed position.

Then it is desired not to use the device as a trap nest, the end 51 is extended through the registering openings instead of the end 5.0. This is done by turning the latch ccvice one quarter of a turn until the member is substantially parallel with the wall member 12,. as is shown in Fig. 7 ot the dra-wings.

It will be seen that it is very easy to change the latch device 49, so that the nest may be used as a trap nest, or it be moved to position where it will not be operated by the hen, thus using my device as an ordinary nest.

A resilient clip device 55 is riveted to the top 19 by means of the rivets 56.V

When the closure member 40a is caused to be moved to closed position by the spring 47, the curved edge 57 is received in the spring member 55, thus causing the closure member to become locked against accidental movement, and thus locking it in order to prevent the hen from pushing the closure member open.

In the rear wall 11 ot the casing, I have provided openings 57 and pivoted closure members 58, which are pivoted to the casing by means of the rivets 59.

The upper end of the closure member 58 is bent forwardly at 60 in order to form the handle member 61.

The flange 2O of the bottom 18 is slightly spaced from the wall 11, so that the lower edge of the closure member 58 may be received between the wall 11 and the liange 20.

The openings 57 are provided when it is desired to use the casing` as a setting nest.

I'Vhen it is desired to use the casing as a setting nest, the device B is removed from the casing A and the door 40a is swung to closed position. It will then be seen that there is provided a complete casing in which a hen may sit undisturbed without any danger of rats injuring the eggs.

rIlhe spring clip 55 is so designed that the door will be slightly spaced away from the upper edge of the casing, in order to permit air to circulate into the casing.

The closure members 58 may also be slightly open for permitting air to circulate.

Small chicks may pass out through the opening 57, but the hen can not pass out through that opening. and the casing could be used Jfor several days, after the small chicks are hatched.

@ne oi the advantages or my device is that it is very simple to operate or fir: to be used for various purposes by the poultrymen without any additional expense on their part.

The device, being so adapted, that it may be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected with the least amount ot labor possible.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement orn the various parts of my device, without departing from the essential features and purposes oit' my invention` and it is my intention to cover by my claim, any modified forms of structure or use of' mechanica-l equivalents, which may be reasonably included withinv their scope.

I claim as my invention:

A nest bor; comprising a casing having a nest device removably supported therein intermediate of its top and bottom, the portion above the nest device forming a laying compartment and the portion below forming an egg receiving compartment, said nest device including a pan member having its sides tapered toward the center, hook members formed on the pan member, flexible material. members fixed to a wire member capable of being sprung to position where its ends may be received over the edges oi the pan member and its centerbelow said hook mem- Y bei', whereby a soft nest device will be formed, the pan member having an opening in its bottom rearwardly of its center, a trough fixed to said pan member below said opening' for conveying the eggs into egg receivng compartment without their break- MARTINUS T. sELs. 

